


Frustration and Relief

by adowtrash



Category: A Discovery of Witches (TV), All Souls Trilogy - Deborah Harkness
Genre: F/M, Gap Filler, and some imagined fantasy sex, good old-fashioned longing, some mild discussion of frustrated masturbation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-24
Updated: 2020-02-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:00:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22879105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adowtrash/pseuds/adowtrash
Summary: Filling the gap between Matthew "rescuing" Diana in the library and Marcus (rudely) interrupting them back in her rooms. How did she get her pajamas on? All the crucial questions will be answered.
Relationships: Diana Bishop/Matthew Clairmont
Comments: 11
Kudos: 97





	Frustration and Relief

As he pitched her limp body into his arms, he knew that Diana would hate this.

The same woman who had defiantly announced that she could open her own car door was unlikely to find being carried bodily from the library romantic or heroic.

He supposed he could beg for her forgiveness later. Right now, getting her as far and as safe from Peter Knox was his only desire.

Not that Diana was entirely helpless when she was awake, he mused, casting a final look at Peter’s splayed form at the far end of Duke Humfrey’s. Not dead, unfortunately, but out for at least the next hour. Long enough to get Diana to safety and to form some kind of a plan.

Either way, it didn’t leave a lot of time to stand around and worry about Diana’s need for independence.

Matthew slipped out the library’s entrance and took side streets back to her rooms. The porter had given him little resistance when he said that Diana had hit her head and needed to be taken upstairs to rest. Instead of being grateful, Matthew found himself annoyed at the man’s lack of diligence.

Did he regularly let men carry unconscious women up to their rooms unchallenged?

But these weren’t rational objections, they were borne of the gnawing sense of protection that had been growing under his skin for the last few days.

For instance, he could be absolutely certain that Diana would hate knowing that Matthew had watched Sean walk her home a week earlier, both slightly tipsy from what was unmistakably a date.  


He himself had hated the white flash of jealousy that coursed through him as Sean clumsily kissed her goodbye. And he didn’t want to know what he would’ve felt if he’d been forced to watch the two climb the stairs up to her rooms instead.

Shaking off a shudder of revulsion, he spared a sudden, guilty thought for poor Sean – very much a forgotten bi-product of the afternoon’s events. Depositing Diana on her bed, he reached for his phone and called Marcus, giving him a series of orders that should take at least the next half hour. 

He’d tried to keep his voice soft, but Diana stirred in her sleep and blinked up at him as he finished the call. She wasn’t entirely lucid, but he took the opportunity to grab the sweatpants and shirt she’d left on the floor and hand them to her so she could change into something more comfortable.

She had undone a few buttons of her blouse before he had the presence of mind to give her some privacy. He slipped into the hall, trying to keep his breathing steady. Now was certainly not the time.

He waited longer than was necessary before lightly knocking. When she didn’t answer, he pushed through and saw her tangled in her duvet. Ignoring a small handful of his own ethical objections, he lifted her just enough to pull back her sheets and readjust her head so that it rested firmly on her pillow.

As he was going to tuck her in, she reached for him. Her hand was splayed across his abdomen, pulling him gently to her. As he went to pull away, she stroked a hand down his side, his flimsy resistance cracked, and he climbed in dutifully beside her. She snuggled into his chest and her breathing became soft and even.

A sensation not unlike a steel hand squeezed his heart, and he found himself gently stroking her hair as she slept. It felt like silk, just as he’d imagined it would. And her sudden release of magic had intensified her scent, giving it an electric quality that made him feel lightheaded.

Because he was trying not to think about it, the only thing on his mind now was the night before. The feeling of her mouth on his, and the way his whole body had leapt at her invitation. The way the rest of the night’s possibilities had flashed through his mind – running his hands through her lovely hair, stripping off her lovely clothes, fucking her on her lovely table. 

He knew why he’d left, but he couldn’t pretend to be glad about it. He also remembered what he’d done a soon as he got home – once in the shower, after penitently scrubbing off her scent, and then again at his desk when it was clear he wasn’t going to get any work done.

This fantasy version of himself had found creative uses for many of the surfaces of this small room, he recalled, his eyes drifting from her kitchen counters to her bedroom wall.

Diana’s hands were far above the line of his belt, which was lucky at the present moment. He could hear his own breath going ragged and willed himself to calm down.  


This was not the time.

Still, he saw the fan of her eyelashes splaying out against the cheek he wanted to kiss. The line of her neck where he wanted to run the tip of his nose. The soft curve of her breasts where he wanted to –

As he reached this final dizzying thought, Marcus interrupted his reverie with a loud knock and he extracted himself from Diana’s grasp with a mixture of frustration and relief.


End file.
